Car-coupling



(No Model.) 2 Sheets- Sheet 1.

C. 8v W. SPEER.

lGAR GOUPLING.

Patented JaJlL,v 1885.

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No. 310,327. Palzen'edJam.V 6, 1885.

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WITNESSES:

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

CARL SPEER AND VILLIAM SPEER, OF BALTIMORE, MARYLAND.

CAR-COUPLING.

EPECIEICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 310,327, dated January 6, 1885.

Application filed October 20, 1884.

To z/ZZ when?, it may concern;

Be it known that we, CARL Sienna and WILLIAM SrEEr-z, subjects of his Majesty the Emperor of Germany, and residing inthe city of Baltimore, in the county of Baltimore and State of Maryland, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Car-Couplings; and we do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, which will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, which form a part of this specication, and in which- Figure l is a perspective view ol' a portion of the platform of a railway-car provided with our improvement. Fig. 2 is a side view of two couplings, showing them engaged, and showing portions of the platforms and of the frames of the couplings broken away. Fig. 3 is a bottom View. Fig. et is a front view; and Figs. 5 and 6 are longitudinal vertical sectional views seen in opposite directions.

Similar letters of reference indicate corre spending parts in all the figures.

Our invention has relation to that class of car-couplings in which hook or arrow-head shaped draw-heads upon one car engage the coupling upon the other car; and it consists in the improved construction and combination of parts of the same, as hereinafter more fully described and claimed.

In the accompanying drawings, the letter A indicates the platform of a car, which car may be of any desired construction, the car in the drawings being represented as a common platform or gondola car, although the coupling may be applied to a car of any desired construction, the necessary changes in some of the parts of the coupling being capable of being made without departing from the spirit of our invention.

A block, B, is secured under the bottoni of the car to the under side of the platform of the same, and has a flat transversebar, C, secured to its under side at the middle of the bar, the ends of the bar being secured at the side edges of the platform; and the said block has two parallel longitudinal pcrforations, D D, through which the rear ends, .E and F,F of the draw-bars G and H slide, the said ends (Xo model.)

having collars I bearing against the forward side of the block, while theirv rear ends are provided with heads JA, against which the rear ends of two spiral springs, K, bear, the said springs being wrapped around the ends of the drawbars, and bearing with their forward ends against the rear face of the block,

allowing the draw-bars to yield when a drawing strain is exerted upon them. rlhe remaining portion of one, (r, of the draw-bars slides in bearings or brackets L upon the under side of the platform, and the remaining portion of the other draw-bar, H, slides in brackets M, projecting downward from the under side of the platform, the said brackets projecting farther down than the brackets for the other draw-bar, the drawbar H being bent downward and forward to project forward in a plane below the other draw-bar. The ends of the draw-bars are formed into boxes N, open at their forward and under sides, and the inner flat ends, O, of the draw-heads P are pivotcd upon bolts Q in these boxes, the pins or bolts passing through the sides of the boxes and through the fiat ends of the draw-heads, and the said fiat ends forming shoulders R upon their upper sides, bearing againstthe forward edges ot' the closed upper sides of the box, thus allowing the draw-heads to swing downward, but preventing them from being tilted upwarf.. The sides of the boxes and the flat ends of the draw-heads have eacha transverse j ierforation, S, passing through them when the draw-heads are -raised and point straight forward, and pins T are inserted into these perforations, having their inner portions screw-threaded, corresponding to and screwing into the female screw-threaded portions U in one side of each box, the said screwthreads serving to hold the pins in place. A plate or casting, V, is secured upon the forward edge of the platform, and has the bumpers XV secured upon it, and the said casting has vertical perforations X, into whichthe upper shouldered ends, Y, of two vertical rods, Z, are secured, the shoulders bearing against the lower end of the jrierforations7 while the upper ends of the rods are provided with nut-s 1A",iitting upon the said threaded upper ends,

and bearing against the upper ends of the perforations, securing Jthe vertical rods remov- IOO ably in the same. The lower threaded ends ofthe vertical rods are passed through perforations B, near the ends of a crossbar, C', thereupon, through perforations D in the lower forwardly-projecting ends of two forwardly and downwardly inclined braces E', and then secured by means of nuts F. A ilat bar, G', having perforations H near its ends, slides with these perforations upon the vertical. rods, and has upon the under side of its ends two downwardly-projecting cylindrical lugs, I, upon which the upper ends of two pairs of spiral springs, JK, are secured, the one spring in each pair being wrapped around the other, and the lower ends of these springs are secured upon upwardly-projecting cylindrical lugs L upon the upper sides of the ends of the erosslbar C', the said springs serving to lforce the sliding cross-bar upward. A similarly-shaped cross-bar, M, having perforations NT at its ends, but having no projecting ends, slides with the said perforations upon the vertical rods, and is connected to the upper sliding cross-bar by means of parallel vertical rods 0, secured at their ends in pcrforations at the sides of the perforations sliding upon the vertical reds, serving to hold the sliding crossbars at an even distance from each other. rllie upper and lower cross-bar have forwardlyprojecting flat lugs l, having vertical perforations Q, the said perforated lugs serving to receive a eoupling-pin,when the coupling is to be used in connection with a common pin-andlinl; coupling. The downwardly-bent ends R of the ibrwardly-projecting arms S of a bifurcated lever, T, bear against the upper sides of the ends of the upper sliding cross-bar, and the said arms fit in longitudinal recesses U in the under side ofthe platform, and are pivoted upon transverse fnlcrunrpins V, secured across the recesses, whereupon the arms are united by means of a cross-bar\V, from the middle of which the rear arm, X', ofthe lever projects rearwardly, the lower end of a chain, Y', being secured to the end of the said rear arm. The upper end of this chain is secured to the middle of a shalt, Z', iournaled transversely across the carin suitable bearings, A2, and the ends of the shaft are provided with ratchet-wheels B2 and with cranks C2, by means of which cranks the shaft may be revolved. Dogs or pawls D2, having laterally-projecting handles El, are secured upon the ends of a transversely-journaled shaft, F2, and engage the ratchet-wheels, preventing the shaft from revolving back after the chain has been wound upon it, and maybe thrown out of engagement with the ratchet-wheels by means of the handles. The forward edges, G2, oi' the sliding cross-pieces are beveled or rounded,and it will be seen that when the two couplings of two ears are brought together the inclined sides H2 of the downwardly-projecting hooks I2 at the ends of the draw-heads will slide over the inclined or rounded edges of the transverse sliding bars, forcing them slightly downward until the shoulders of the heads have engaged the rear edges of the cross-bars, when the cars are coupled, the hooleshaped drawhcads being capable of sliding laterally upon the sliding cross-bars to allow the cars to swing in turning curves, the springs at the ends of the draw-bars serving also to allow the draw-bars to yield, the said draw-bars being not only placed one below the other, but being also placed one to the side of the other at equal distances `from the central line of the car.

Vhen it is desired to uncouple the cars,the shafts are revolved, drawing the rear ends of the bifurcated levers upward, which will cause the bifurcated ends of the said levers to force the sliding cross-bars downward, disengaging them from the shoulders of the draw-heads and allowing the cars to be separated.

When the coupling is to be used in conneetion with a car having the common pin-andlink coupling, the pins in the hinges of the d raw-heads are withdrawn, allowing the drawheads to swing downward out of theA way, when a common coupling pin may be inserted through the perforated lips upon the sliding cross-bars, and a common link used with the said pin.

Having thus described our invention, we claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United Statesl. In a car-coupling having means for the reception of a common couplingpin,the combination of a draw-bar formed with a box at its outer end open at its forward and under side and having central rcgistering-perfora` tions and eccentric registeringperforations in its sides, a hoolrshaped draw-head having its inner end flattened, perforated, and Aformed with a shoulder upon its upper side, a pin inserted permanently through the central perfd rations forming a pivot for the draw-head, and a pin inserted removably through the eccentric registeringperforations in the box and iiat end of the draw-bar, as and for the purpose shown and set forth.

2. The combination, with the hoolcshaped draw-heads placed below and to the side ol one another, of the sliding cross-bars having springs forcing them upward, and means for forcing the sliding cross-bars downward,'as and for the purpose shown and set forth,

The combination of the hook shaped spring-cushioned draw-bars, and heads placed one in a plane below the other and at equal distances to the opposite sides of the central line'of the car,the vertical rods secured to the under side of the platform, at the front edge of the vsame,the sliding cross-bars having perforations at their ends sliding upon the vertical rods, having beveled or rounded forward edges, and secured at a distance from each other by the vertical connecting-rods, the springs foreingthe cross-bars upward,and the bifurcated lever, having means, as shown, for depressing the sliding cross-bars, as and vfor the 'purpose shown and set forth.

4. The combination of the hook shaped llO spring-cushioned draw-bars, and heads placed one in a plane below the other and at equal distances to the opposite sides of the central line of the oar, the vertical rods projecting,` downward from the frontedge of the platform, the flat cross-bar secured at the lower ends of the vertical rods and having the upwardlyprojecting cylindrical lugs upon the upper sides of its ends, the upper sliding cross-bar having perforations near its ends sliding` upon the vertical rods, and having the cylindrical lugs projecting from the undersides of its ends, the spiral springs seeured in pairs wrapped around each other upon the lugs, the lower 

